Legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson once remarked that clubs “never get full value” with signings in the January transfer window.
City appear to have disproved that theory with not only the acquisition of Semenyo, but Marc Guehi too after the England defender joined from Crystal Palace for £20m.
“You can spend, I don’t know how much money, and if it works it’s cheap and you can spend less money and if it doesn’t work it is not cheap, it is expensive,” said Guardiola. “That is the tendency for all the clubs to sign players.
“At the end there was an opportunity with a release clause for Antoine and the last six months contract from Crystal Palace for [Guehi]. With Ruben [Dias] and Josko [Gvardiol] and everyone fit, maybe we don’t go for Marc or Antoine, but we had this opportunity and, with the situation, both have been extraordinary.”
Centre-back Guehi is just the fourth player to feature for different winning teams in consecutive FA Cup finals after helping Palace upset City last season.
He was also part of the Eagles side that suffered one of the greatest shocks in the competition, when the holders lost 2-1 in the third round at non-league Macclesfield.
New Football Association rules allowed Guehi to play for City in the competition following his transfer and he told TNT Sports: “To be honest, they are both equally as nice. The one with Palace was a different occasion. It was my first trophy.
“This one, especially after the tough season, they’re both equally amazing.”
Guehi also missed Palace’s celebrations last season as he spent the night in hospital after suffering a fractured eye socket in the match and, incredibly, it seems like he might miss out this time too.
City still remain in the hunt for a domestic treble, sitting two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal with two games left, and a difficult trip to in-form Bournemouth next on Tuesday.
“Not even one beer,” said Guardiola about any post-match partying. “Next Monday after [the final game against] Aston Villa, we are going to celebrate it with the women’s team, the club said that to me [with] some parade in Manchester because we must celebrate with both teams.
“No, no, no – not have time [to celebrate].”
The Wembley win also proved to be a memorable occasion for captain Bernardo Silva and John Stones, who are both leaving the club at the end of the season.
With Guardiola’s future also uncertain, the Spaniard may well end his decade-long tenure in the same magical way next Sunday against Villa.
